Hop-drier.



No. 660,400. Patented oct; 23, |900.

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UNITED STATES PATENT; OEEICE.

ADOLE WOLF, OE s'iLvEEToN, OREGON.

HOP-omen.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters 1atent No. 660,408, dated, October23, 1900.

` Application iled May 22, 1900, Serial No. 17,561. KNO model.)

To MZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLF WOLF, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Silverton, in the county of Marion and State of Oregon, haveinvented a new and Improved Hop-Drier, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description.

One purpose of the invention is to provide are obtainable under thepresent treatment of hops. l i

Another purpose of* the invention is to provide a means of drying thehops which will economize in time, fuel, labor, and expense and tosoconstruct the'driers that the lupulin will be preserved andthe hopsmay be du mped quickly and conveniently without damage.

The invention consists in the novel construction' and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth,

and pointed out in the'claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters oflreference indicatecorresponding parts Yin both figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a series of driers and a perspectiveview of a platform adapted to be placed in a kiln and support thedriers, and Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through one of thedriers.

The frame A of theimproved drier consists of upper and lower end bars 10and upper, lower, and intermediate side bars 11, which are connectedwith the end bars in any suitable or approved manner, together withupright bars 12, which are located at the central ventilated and heatcan penetrate the covering.

The bottom of the drier' is removable and is arranged to dump. Thisbottom B preferably consists of two skeleton frames 15 and y 15a,providedV at the top with a coveringlb of practically the sa'mecharacter as the covering for the sides and ends of the main frame ofthe drier. These two skeleton frames 15 and l5a are connected by hinges16, and the end to end, whereby practically ther bottom portion of themain section or body of the drier is divided into two compartments, so

that 'when the hops are to be dumped they will fallfrom the drier ateach side of the division-board 17. When the bottom Bis placed in thedrier, the two frames 15 and l5a are at angles to each other, as shownin Fig. 2,'and the sections of the bottom B are held in position byropes, cords, or chains 18, which are attached to the side port-ions ofthe frames of the bottom B at the centerv of said side portions, and theupper ends of the ropes, cords, or chains 18 are passed through cleats19, carried by the main frame A, as illustrated in both views, andVknots 2O are formed at the upper ends of the ropes,cords, or chains, orinstead of knots any7 other projection or enlargement may be formedwhich will prevent the ropes,cords,or chains from passing through orfrom being drawn through the cleats 19. When the hops are to be dumpedfrom the drier, the ropes, cords, or chains 18 are released fromengagement with the cleats 19, and the sections 15 and 15a of the bottom`portion B may then dropdownward at each side of the partition-board 17andthe hops lwill be free to pass out at the bottom of the ICO in thebody portion of the drier, and the ropes, cords, or chains 18 in passingupward engage with the sidenieinbers of the frame of the tray C and tendto normally keep the said tray in a horizontal position. of these traysC may be used and under such an arrangement the drier is provided with anumber of chambers, to all of which heat is readily supplied. The objectof providing the tray C is to give the box a great capacity withoutplacing a too-thick layer of hops on the perforated bottom. With atoo-high layer ot' hops the material will pack closely together,interfering with the proper passage of heat. 'Ihus the tray C isinade'to carry part of the load of hops. t

The driers are placed close together upon a skeleton structure D, whichis adapted lo be fitted in any suitable or approved manner in anydesired form of kiln. This structureD preferably consists of cross-bars25 and longitudinal bars 24, the bars 24 and` 25 of the structure DAhaving such relation to each other that they support the ends andsides'of the driers and in no manner interfere with` the discharge ofhops from the driers. Preferably a scale 26 is employed in connectionwith the device, located at the inside of a drier and extending from thetop to the bottoni. This scale, which is in inches, is used by theforeman of the dryhonse to determine in the most practicable way how4deep the hops should be laid on the supports in the boxes, since thedepth of hops must be uniform over the kiln. In fact, the scale rendersit easy to determine how deep to lay the green hops in the boxes so thatthe floors of hops will be unifdrm, which is Very essential.

It will be observed that the hops, after they have been dried, may bedischarged by dropping the sections of the bottom B of a tray andtilting the tray or trays employed in connection with a drier and thatat no time are the hops trampled upon or broken, nor need the hops beturned over, as is customary under the ordinary process of drying. Hopswhen dried or partly dried are more or less brittle and if handled toany great extent thus much of the product is lost.

Any numberseparate, break, or become pulverized, and

is entirely avoided by the `use of the apparatus above described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent-e y l. In a hop-drier, a box open at the bottom, areticulated bottom consisting of two sections hinged together at theirinner edges, p

and supporting devices for the outer portions of the bottom.

2. In a hop-drier, a-main skeleton frame provided with end and sidecoverings of a reticulated or perforated material, a bottom for the mainframe independent thereof, supporting devices for the said bottom, and atray located above the bottom and having pivotal connection with themain frame, as set forth.

3. In a hop-drier, a main skeleton frame,4

a reticnlated or perforated covering for the sides and ends of the saidmain frame, a division-board extending fromend to end at the bottomportionof the main frame, a bottom consisting of skeleton frames havinga hinged connection and located above the di-` vision-board, areticulated or perforated covering for said frames of the bottom, meansfor supporting the bottom and permitting a dumping action, and a trayremovable from the main frame and located above the bottom, which trayhas pivotal connection with the main frame of the drier, as described.

4. In a hop-drier, a box open at the bottoni and provided with avertical partition at its lower portion, a reticulated bottom con#sisting of two sections hinged together at` This lossv

